College Football is the greatest spectator sport in America. Tailgating is an art form, sampling the local fare, traditions and partaking in a beverage or two is a must. Atmosphere is everything! If you don't attend a game, you can still tailgate right in the confines of your own man-cave. Enjoy the site!
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Sunday, December 29, 2013

All is well in the
Tailgate world. A joyous and blessed Christmas was had by all, #2 had
successful ACL surgery, Bowl games are well underway and Brian Griffin the Family
Guy dog is alive and well again. What more could one ask for? As is customary in the world of DFT, each
December we watch sub division playoff games because we can (note to the D1 FBS
politburo: Have a real playoff). Congratulations to Wisconsin Whitewater (Div
III) and NW Missouri State (Div II) on their respective championships. In one
of the best games of the year, Towson State of Maryland defeated Eastern
Washington on the Red Inferno to advance to the FCS (D1AA) Championship game in Frisco,
TX. Towson State was one of my big Rugby rivals when I graced the pitch for
Frostburg State many moons ago. It is also the Alma doesn’t Matter of Tailgate brother Brian. I am trying to convince
him to part ways with a stack of Benjamins under his mattress and splurge and go
to the game. Their opponent will be two time defending Champion North Dakota
State Bizzzzzon who crushed New Hampshire in the Fargo Dome in their semi.

The red Inferno

In FBS early Bowl action,
USC on their third coach of the year delivered a lump of coal to Fresno State
for an early Christmas gift in the Elvis Bowl. Just think, as of today the
storied USC program is on their 4th Head Coach in three months. Go
figure. In the best Bowl game of the first
day of Bowl season, the reclamation project that is the Colorado State Rams snatch
victory from the jaws of the Leach in the underwear bowl in New Mexico. The
Pirate just gambled one too many times for the Wazoo Nation to accept. On the
frozen blue tundra in Boise, SDSU roasts the Bulls from Buffalo in a one sided affair.
My adopted Sun Belt Conference team OOLULA or ULL, whichever you prefer, win in
the Bayou Bowl over the resurgent Tulane Green Wave. Joe and son Nick Montana
had a lot in common in this game as they both sat and watched most of it. Speculation is that son Nick will transfer again because of this injustice to the Montana name,

The Beef O’Brady
Empty Bowl played at the Trop, the baseball stadium of the Tampa Bay Rays, saw
the ECU Purple Pirates and Muffin Ruffin McNeil eat up the Bobcats of Ohio
University. In Hawaii, the Boise State
squad pissed off their fans and leighed a big egg as the Beavers put a dam
beating on the Broncs. The BSU QB learned a valuable lesson about when and
where to unveil his Wick in the Southerly wind.

View of the Beef O'Brady Bowl

The Pitt Panthers
bowled over the Falcons of Bowling Green in the Herman Cain Bowl in Dirtroit. The
proceeds from the game were donated to city officials who promptly gave all the
money to friends and family and declared they were still bankrupt. Jordan and
the NIU Huskies were lynched by the Utah State Mob in the Poinsettia Bowl in
San Diego. It is a good thing NIU escaped the embarrassment of making a BCS
Bowl for the second straight year.

The Northrop Grumman
Military Bowl moved to Annapolis Maryland this year and featured the “We Are”
Marshall Thundering Herd snapping up a victory over the Maryland Turtles who
they did not fear. Coach Jerry Kill back on the sideline for Minnesota for the
first time in months saw his gophers get Caddyshacked by the Syracuse Orangemen
(Hey isn’t that politically incorrect). Coach Kill was quoted about the playing
conditions of the field turf after the game: “This is a hybrid. This is a cross, ah,
Bluegrass, Kentucky Bluegrass, Featherbed Bent, and Northern California
Sensemilia. The amazing stuff about this is, that you can play four quarters of football on it
in the afternoon, take it home and just get stoned to the bejeezus-belt that
night on this stuff. Here, I've got pounds of this.”

Coach Kill sparking up a fattie

The Tailgate wandered across
the Bay on 12/27 to the friendly confines of AT&T Park for the No Sponsor
Fight Hunger Bowl. So to fight our hunger we pre gamed at Lucky Strike and
consumed some of the best pub grub the City by the Bay serves up. We were
scratching our heads trying to figure out why the pubs were half empty and then
it dawned on us that one of the teams in the game was BYU. Duh!!!!! We were
supervised once again by legendary Marine “Boots Wintersteen and accompanied by
the Wannstedts and a pack of Wolves. BYU’s opponent on this unseasonably warm
night were the Sled Dawgs from the University of Washington. The atmosphere at
the Park was the for the most part tame and family friendly. A BYU clan with
three wives and one husband in our section were singing that ole Pittsburgh
Pirates diddy “We Are Family!” I could almost see Willie Stargell pop his head
out of the Visitor’s dugout and wave his cap.

The Lucky Strike crew

A rare hall pass for these two neutered males

The
game itself was well played and close until the 11 minute mark of the 4th
when Washington’s All Everything Tight End Austin Sefarian Jenkins caught a
pass for a TD and a two score lead. Final score Washington 31 – BYU 16.

Boots and his crew

Play ballllll!

In
Yankee stadium, the Fighting Irish over powered new Big Ten entrant Rutgers in
the New Era Pinstripe Bowl. A crew of DFT loyalists were there to take in the
ball game. Apparently George Atkinson the III was not there for the same.

Pinstripe Tailgaters

In a
battle of truly ugly uniforms, the UNC Tarheels who have a Ram as a mascot (huh?),
took down Tommy Tubberville’s Bearcats in the Belk Bowl. Teddy Ballgame Bridgewater
may have played his last game as he and the LuhVull Cardinals stormed past the
Hurricanes in Orlando 36-9. In the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, Michigan Coach Brady
Hoke ate a record 160 chicken wings in 15 minutes, or at least it looked that
way. Jabba the Hoke and the Wolverines layed another egg in going down to the
Bill Snyder Wildcats. So it is solved, the chicken does come before the egg.

The Wing King

Beiber Award - We have a tie
that goes to two Senior Captains of Bowl bound teams: Boise State QB Joe
Southwick and Michigan State Linebacker Max Bulloch. Both were sent home from their
respective Bowl trips for violating team rules.
Not only is Mr. Southwick accused of violating team rules, he could face
criminal charges for improperly using the Hawaii hotel balcony as a latrine.
The neighbors below, enjoying a cup of coffee did not request the added flavor.
He is adamant in denying that he was the culprit and more or less fingered his
teammate Nick Patti as the Perp. He even had a polygraph administered upon his
return to Boise. Here is the video when he was asked if it was him on the
balcony:

The
other Beebs of the week Mr. Bulloch is yet to come clean with what his
infraction is and DFT will not speculate. Okay, we can’t help ourselves so we
think it was determined that he is responsible for the Wikileaks, NSA spying,
Benghazi, and the Obamacare Website. He is toast.

Next
Up – The Tailgate will take in the Rose Parade and the 100th Rose
Bowl game on Wednesday with nephew Sparty Nate and other friends and family.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

The Tailgate flew into the city of Brotherly
Mug on the tail end of the winter storm that pummeled the East Coast earlier in
the week. This would be the Tailgate’s third time in four years attending what
many consider the greatest rivalry in all of sports: The Army – Navy Game. Here
are some stats on the game:

Total Series Games: 113

Series Record: Navy 57–Army 49–Tied 7

Series Began: 1890, Navy won, 24-0

Last Meeting: 2012, Navy won, 17-13

Current Streak: Navy, - 11

The Philly weather
was not as welcoming as this soft California transplant would have desired, but
it is December in the Mid Atlantic after all. On game day we experienced plummeting
temps, snow and freezing rain. The Tailgate crew consisted of the usual
Cliffside Park Mafia with Dons Carlucci and Capezutto hosting, KZX Fraternity Brothers from Frostburg State, West Pointers,
Army buddies, other friends, family and a number of strap hangers. Well over 50
brave souls attended our annual ritual. The chow was a fusion of a Sopranos
funeral feast meets Duck Dynasty family shindig:

Dino’s deer venison chili

Slicky’s grilled sausage and peppers & pulled pork

Rays – Chicken noodle soup

Frank the Tank’s smoked ribs and pulled pork

Brian Hawk’s old bay chicken wings

Beef’s cannolis

Trevor’s pretty people heated tent and open bar

Chicken Hawk’s – spicy bloody marys

Our food was top notch!

The Army Navy rivalry
cannot be described justly in words by me each year in this blog. I highly
recommend this event to all sports fans, not just CFB diehards. You will feel
and experience many things at this spectacle that you will never get anywhere
else. The patriotism, the pride, the honor, the camaraderie. It will reinforce
to you what America is all about: Sacrifice and hard work, not hand outs and
entitlements. The Cadets and Midshipmen represent the best of our youth and
have worked hard to achieve that status. Upon graduation, they will all sail or
march off into duty for their country. Some will lay down their lives providing
the ultimate sacrifice for this Nation. These young men and women are such a
dichotomy to much of today’s brainwashed entitled, blame others youth. I must say it is encouraging that we still
have hope when you meet these impressive young people. The game is not about
the product on the field these days. It is much more than that. There was a
time when the Academies did compete at the highest level of CFB. With the
riches the NFL offers today, the best athletes coming out of High School look
for other institutions to help them achieve their dreams. Nonetheless, you
won’t find many teams that work harder with what they have then Army and Navy.

The Boss, Slicky, the world's oldest LT and Dino

The Capos

Bobo, Horsey & Hawk

The pretty people tent

Frozen Bloggers

P Tater, Steve O, Frank the Tank and Brian Hawk

Lt. Cap and Dan

John and Trevor

Ray, the angry little Elf host!

Ox holding court

The Brothers Hawk

Part of the crew

We were treated to
three different Blue Angel flyovers of 6 birds each prior to the kickoff. Had
my cranial cap had any hair, it would have stood straight up. It is absolutely awe
inspiring to see close air support so personal and up close. Oooooooo rahhhhhhh
& Hoooooo ahhhh! The second flyover was accompanied by 4 Apache Helios
flying over. “Don’t mess with the USA”. For the coin toss, Secretary of Defense
Chuck Hagel flipped the coin that President Kennedy was scheduled to flip 50
years ago at what is considered one of the best Army navy games ever. The coin survived and was provided to be part of the
day’s ceremony. When I looked around the stadium knowing at least half of the
80,000 fans had served or are still serving the USA, I felt proud, patriotic
and pretty damn safe.

Decked out in my
new -40 below winter boots, high tech thermals and terrorist balaclava mask I
was all set to take on the elements. I strategically sat between two of my
biggest pals that make me look like a pencil neck geek for wind blockage:
Frostburg State football legends Bo Bo Grega and Horsey Van Orden in the club
level of the Link. All told, the three of us were a biscuit shy of 1,000 pounds
of fun.

The Navy bench

My wind blocks

With the snow falling and the temps dropping we noticed many people
left for the warmth of the inside bar area in the club level. We braved it
through the first half and eventually thought it would be a good idea to follow
those people we just got done calling wusses. On the field, Navy dominated the
action from start to finish. As has been the Achilles heel for Amy under Coach Ellerson,
the Cadets turned the ball over too many times to compete against a more
disciplined Midshipman squad. In the warmth of the club level we continued to
hydrate, tell our exaggerated college stories and watched the second half on
the many flat screens.

Warm, dry and hydrated

Some in our crew refused to leave their seats in the
elements and braved it all the way to the singing of the respective alma maters.
Navy QB Keenan Reynolds was unstoppable scoring three of the Middies TDs leading
his team to their 12th straight victory over Army. Final score Navy 34 -7. This
may have been Ellerson’s last stand for West Point.

In other news around the Country, - Little St. Nick decides to stay in T
Town and not go to Austin. Across the great state of Alabama the chant of Yule
Tide Yule could be heard as Tide nation got itself an early Christmas gift with
Nicky’s presser stating that he is staying put. It was also announced that Bama
ticket prices will see a dramatic price increase next fall. I don’t see the
connection there. DFT loyalist Alabama Al and his family were so ecstatic about
Saban’s news that they produced a video that has already gone viral on youtube

Mack gets knifed in
the back in Austin and decides to step down. The new drama and dead horse to
beat is his potential replacement candidate list. Boise gets former OC Brian
Harsin to fill the large shoes vacated by Coach Pete. Notre Dame will have the
services again of Everett “Einstein” Golson after he was readmitted. Speaking
of Notre Dame, DC Bob Diaco is leaving to resurrect the ruins of the UConn
program in Storrs Connecticut. Jameis Winston or J Wizzle wins the Heisman in a
landslide. Did anyone understand a thing he said during his acceptance speech?I thought the drinking age in NY was 21.

Bieber Award – After committing to going to the Rose Bowl with my Nephew
Nate who is a Michigan State Student, I embarked on a search to find a ticket
for the game. After scouring Stub Hub, Ticketmaster, Craigslist, E-Bay and
other sites it became apparent that this would not be a cheap ticket. It appears
the dealers snapped up every last ticket they could leaving a shortage in the
market. Each day the prices increased as the volume decreased. Minimum price is
now around $750 for this game. Reminder, this is not the National Championship,
this is a bridesmaid bowl. I will not panic, I will be patient and wait for
someone to offer me a reasonably priced ticket either prior to game day or at
the stadium. So this week’s Bieber goes to the Ticket Brokers for inconveniencing
me.

Next up
– The Tailgate’s next live event will be the Kraft Bowl in San Francisco on
12/27 with Commander Winterseen and his Regiment. There will not be a Blog
entry next Sunday. Merry Christmas to you all!

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Tailgate Connect

Dan From The Tailgate

DFT

I live for college football weekends. I love tailgating before and after games and absorbing the atmosphere and traditions of the host school. I am on a quest to see a game in every "real" stadium for D1A football in the country and attend as many games and Tailgates as I can. It is more fun to accomplish this with friends and family, thus the DFT Nation has grown far and wide over the last 15 years. I have also added lower Division schools as part of my annual mix. Each Season, I will travel the country and attend numerous games in college stadiums that I have not previously been to and take in the whole experience and blog about it.

I also like to hear about your game day experiences each week. But it is not just about attending different stadiums, our Tailgate has many repeat locations each year for traditional games that are just plain fun like Army- Navy. Last but not least, I am a college football polygamist. Born a Notre Dame fan, Big OU Sooners and Boise State fan. And of course I root on Army and my Alma Mater Frostburg State. Nonetheless, I love all college football and there is no such thing as a bad game.

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Tailgate Recipe of The Week

The most delicious Slow Cooker Beer Mac & Cheese that is totally homemade, uses your favorite beer and takes your mac and cheese to a whole…

Ingredients

Meat

1 lb Beef stew meat

Produce

1 14.5 oz can Tomatoes, fire-roasted

Canned Goods

1 cup Beef broth

Pasta & Grains

8 oz Pasta noodles

Baking & Spices

2 tbsp Flour

1 tbsp Worcheshire pub burger seasoning

Dairy

3 tbsp Butter

2 cups Cheese

2 cups Milk

Beer, Wine & Liquor

1 1/2 cup Stout beer

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Yahoo College Football Pick EM

Folks, follow the instructions below and cut and paste the link at the bottom. This is a fun weekly activity to measure your picks against others. No money, just for fun and a free DFT T shirt for the winner and DFT hat for 2nd and a pen for third at the end of the season! Let me know if you have any trouble signing up.

Hello Tailgater,

Welcome to Yahoo Sports College Football Pick'em.

You have created the Private Group called The Tailgaters and the Pick Set called Dan's Winners in that group. To allow other people to join this group send them the Group ID# (5374) and the Password (dan). Remember, it is the Group ID#, not the group name, that other people must use to join your group.

You are now ready to participate in College Football Pick'em. Your goal is to select the winner of each week's slate of games.